Chapter 10, Night Talk (Part 2)

Why ... ...

Have you eaten the orange yet, Lan Zi

Upon uttering the name "Kuwai Future," the old man's gaze slightly shifted towards the dark twilight outside the study window, becoming somewhat stern: "If it weren't for her seven years ago, nearly half of the world's ability users wouldn't have gathered here, and the 'Boundary Stone' wouldn't have suffered such immense losses. If it weren't for this matter... hm..."

As she thought this, the old man said, "So, the main purpose of coming here this time is for this corpse, right? Should we perform the autopsy here or send it back?"

Lan Zi took a step back, gazing at them, a chill beginning to creep up her spine

He said, tapping his fingers on the table, producing a loud bang. After a moment, he waved his hand again: "However, this is a minor issue. How to handle it should primarily follow the current perspective on the 'boundary marker.' When you return, there is no need to mention that I said these words, to avoid interfering with their decisions... Now, let us continue discussing the body."

There is another matter, primarily concerning... Recently, while studying those fruits, we discovered something: a very small number of mutants possess abilities akin to division or proliferation. Due to their exceptionally strong survival capabilities, they strive to preserve themselves even after death. In this process, a series of division phenomena may occur as they seek new hosts

Six people, strangely seeming to blend into a mass, Lan Zi stood there for a moment, just about to speak: "Uh, you all..."

Do not say these things anymore

Suddenly, Aunt Tang beside her grabbed the hand of the woman with the surname Deng, while another person blocked Aunt Deng. Several women whispered to each other in hushed tones that Lan Zi could not quite hear, exchanging words at a rapid pace. Lan Zi stood with her back to the water pipe, and after a moment, another voice came through: "Yes, why didn't he eat the orange... why didn't he eat the orange..."

"It's nothing." The old man shook his head, "She made a good friend, probably someone who collects scrap, and often goes out to play."

Aunt Tang

The woman's figure seemed to gradually immerse into the dark area, slowly closing the distance, and then she emerged from the darkness. The weather was somewhat cold. Lan Zi looked around; today at the junkyard, apart from the six of them, the others seemed to have vanished. Occasionally, the wind would blow by, wailing a few times in the empty square. The light bulbs above the junkyard fence were still lit, and there were no pedestrians on the road outside, not even passing vehicles. He felt a bit anxious as he saw the woman approaching and stood up.

***

Xing Zhiwei naturally disagrees with her daughter going to the garbage dump, but the elder comes from the old society and has experienced all kinds of hardships, including having been a beggar. Therefore, she is not particularly concerned about such matters. Her granddaughter excels in intelligence and other aspects compared to her peers, which ironically makes it difficult for her to make friends with them. In Beijing, her social circle was already narrow, and although she attends school normally here, it seems she has not been able to make any good friends. She can play with others as long as they are not bad people; beyond that, there is not much else.

In the glow from another spot several dozen meters away, Aunt Tang and five other women gathered together, as usual picking up scraps. Occasionally, they whispered to each other and glanced over towards Lan Zi. At one point, a woman stopped, standing there alone as if in a daze for about half a minute, before moving on to join the others ahead.

Yes...

In the villa, the old man said this with a smile, startling Xing Zhiwei.

The division aimed primarily at preserving oneself through the means of images and books? The old man furrowed his brow, "According to the laws of nature, in this way they will be unable to retain their complete consciousness, much like a gecko's severed tail, thus..."

Hmm. Xing Zhiwei nodded, "Originally, if it was just a matter of handling the corpse and transporting it, that would suffice. However, we discovered something in a police investigation report. The officer mentioned that when the body was moved, several fresh oranges were found alongside it. From this, they inferred that the body was likely discarded at the landfill long after it had begun to decompose; otherwise, the oranges entangled in the plastic bag would have already rotted. But we are considering whether this could be the result of the target splitting and reconstituting after death."

Go play at the landfill

How does Lan Zi ... ...

I said it's nothing, you don't need to worry about it. I have her take a bath twice a day. What's wrong with the garbage dump? It's not like we're stealing or robbing. Moreover, Coral has recently made some decent appliances using some waste materials over there, haha...

***

What? What is Coral doing at the dump? This girl...

Nakamura Eita from Japan

I have heard about this corpse; at that time, Coral was still nearby

The air seems somewhat cold and damp, in the landfill, the lights illuminate certain areas at the edges, some bulbs have already burned out, leaving a gap in the illuminated space

"It fell." Lan Zi smiled faintly, his complexion somewhat pale. He looked into Aunt Tang's eyes and vaguely felt that her pupils were somewhat dull, murky like stagnant water, staring at him without any ripples. "It accidentally fell on the road, and then the orange was run over by a car. There's nothing that can be done, hehe..."

Uh, why ... not eat? Is it that you don't like the orange from the book or ...

Occasionally, there are puddles of murky black water on the ground, and the garbage heap lies in silent darkness, with little conversation to be heard. Lan Zi squats in the light of this area, sorting through the trash around her, occasionally glancing over to the other side.

Why did you not eat that orange

Since its appearance until now, it has already been more than twenty days. If that truly is the fruit, it is likely that you would not be able to find it. The old man frowned and said, "I fear that the mutants have already emerged..."

This time, it was Aunt Du, who usually spoke in a low tone, with her petite frame. After speaking, she merely stood by and watched Lan Zi. Aunt Tang then reached out and patted her. At that moment, Lan Zi could faintly hear the fragmented and chaotic conversation.

Since the elder has spoken, Xing Zhiwei felt it was inappropriate to say anything further. She thought to find an opportunity to understand who that person really was. After all, a scavenger...

The woman's voice seemed somewhat weak as she softly asked. Lan Zi took a deep breath, slightly stepped back, and increased the distance between the two: "No."

Orange orange orange orange orange

The night wind howled, carrying this cry into the sky, faintly echoing and colliding throughout the entire garbage dump. The few women who had been chattering suddenly fell silent after this shout, as if frozen in place. A few seconds later, they stood there in the night wind, confronting each other, six women, each with a different demeanor

Just asking him

Have such secondarily formed fruits been discovered before

We infer that it may be possible to harness their power in this manner. After their original consciousness has weakened, even if they are consumed by someone and undergo mutation, the extent of the change is limited. Moreover, through this secondary parasitism, their original consciousness becomes blurred, and they may even forget the fundamental purpose for which they came. Although the host will still be affected, it is highly likely that they will retain most of their original personality, memories, and thought processes. If we can exert some control, there is a significant possibility of eliminating all negative factors, preserving only the power they contain. The breakthrough we have been seeking in our years of research on artificial evolvers may lie in this step.

The Extreme Wheel Society, Nakagawa Tsutomu's children... Your mention does jog my memory a bit, but in this regard, the Japanese cannot be trusted..." The elder waved his hand, "It's not that I'm talking about the Anti-Japanese War or anything like that; it's about what happened seven years ago. Although Nakagawa Tsutomu appeared to remain neutral, who knows what he truly intends? Every supernatural organization in Japan lives under the shadow of Takamagahara. We may not be trading with Takamagahara now, but if we choose the Extreme Wheel Society, in the end, Takamagahara will still find a way to intervene. That woman, Aoi Mirai, is very cunning; whatever she aims to do, who in Japan can stop her?

Today, Lan Zi was not in the mood to pick up things, but surprisingly, he had good luck and found several large cardboard boxes. He tied them up and placed them on the tricycle. When he looked over in that direction again, Aunt Tang, who was wearing a mask, left that small group and walked towards him, causing Lan Zi's heart to skip a beat.

No, there are fruits everywhere in this world, and the difficulty of tracing the 'fruits' is indeed too great. For the past seven years, the vast majority of our confirmations have only been possible after the targets have already been exposed, confirming that they have consumed the 'fruits'. As for the secondary instances, they currently exist only in speculation, and there has been no direct discovery of the 'fruits'.

She paused, observing the elderly man furrowing his brow in contemplation, and then continued: "At present, it seems that such matters have also been discovered in Japan. A few months ago, Nakamura Eita attempted to contact us, hoping to re-establish cooperation with us and the 'Boundary Stone' in this regard. Currently, the United States is more inclined towards how to initiate research 'over there,' while Europe is taking a dual approach, utilizing the research direction that generates evolutionary beings. In fact, we are at the forefront alongside Japan."

Do not say any of this, stop...

Orange

Oh. After a while, Aunt Tang nodded and quietly turned to leave. Lan Zi steadied her mind and watched as she faded back into the darkness, returning to that small group. Six people were looking this way, whispering among themselves.

The orange ... ... that orange ... ...

As soon as he spoke, a sharp and piercing shout suddenly shattered the cool night sky. Aunt Deng, despite the attempts of several people to hold her back, thrust her entire upper body forward, her mouth agape, her hair disheveled, resembling a madwoman

Both parties seemed to be paying attention to each other. In this strange atmosphere, it gradually approached 10 o'clock. Lan Zi tidied up her belongings and lowered her head to wash her hands by the water pipe. Subsequently, six women also walked over, chatting with one another, resembling the usual scene of leaving work together.

Oh, the father of Nakayama Eita and Nakayama Yuso is Nakayama Ben. After Nakayama Ben had an incident in China seven years ago, it has been Nakayama Eita and his sister who have been leading the Jirun Society. Currently, it is said in Japan that they are the most outstanding evolvers of the young generation in East Asia

The sky is overcast, with clouds.

As he approached, Lan Zi turned on the faucet. Before he could bend down, a voice suddenly came from behind him: "Why didn't you eat the orange?" He felt a jolt run through him and turned around, only to find an aunt surnamed Deng, known for her fiery temper among the women at the garbage dump. She stared at Lan Zi, and the distance between them was less than two meters, making it seem as if she was about to walk straight over to him. For a moment, Lan Zi didn't know how to respond: "Uh..."

Orange